Current Affairs

KAS Current Affairs GS3: Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India (SHANTI) Act

Adani Group enters nuclear power sector after SHANTI Act

Context: The Adani Group announced its entry into the nuclear power sector , via a regulatory filing. This is the first instance of a major power company in India doing so, following the passage of the Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India (SHANTI) Act in December.

• “We wish to inform you that Adani Power Limited (APL) has incorporated a wholly owned subsidiary — Adani Atomic Energy Limited,” the company.
• The SHANTI Act, which was passed by Parliament in December, replaces the Atomic Energy Act and allows private companies to operate nuclear power plants in India. It also allows such companies to form joint ventures with foreign companies for technology collaboration.
• India has an installed nuclear power capacity of 8.8 GW, with the government claiming that it will rise to 32 GW in the next decade. It currently contributes about 3% of generated electricity.

KAS Current Affairs GS2: Panchsheel Agreement

India believed that Panchsheel pact settled border

• “[Jawaharlal] Nehru probably knew that we had something like the McMahon Line in the east, and we had some kind of claim in the Ladakh area, but it was not clearly defined. That is why he wanted to go in for the Panchsheel Agreement.
• Once Tibet was occupied by China, “India gave up those privileges”.
• In 1954, India recognised Tibet as part of China, and both countries signed the Panchsheel Agreement. With this, India assumed that it had settled its northern border and the only area not settled through a formal treaty, from India’s perspective, rested on the Panchsheel Agreement.

KAS Current Affairs GS1: NPCI International Payments Ltd. (NIPL)

NPCI’s international arm inks pact with Malaysia’s PayNet

• NPCI International Payments Ltd. (NIPL), the international arm of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), has signed an agreement with Payments Network Malaysia Sdn Bhd (PayNet), to enable QR based merchant payments between India and Malaysia.
• Indians visiting Malaysia will be able to use UPI apps to make seamless cross border merchant payments at DuitNow QR acceptance touchpoints.

KAS Current Affairs GS3: Bodhan AI

Bodhan AI, which has been established as a non-profit organisation under the Education Ministry to build an open-source “Bharat EduAI Stack” to introduce artificial intelligence across all levels of education.

IIT initiative

• Mitesh Khapra of the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras unveiled Bodhan AI and outlined plans for the Bharat EduAI Stack as digital public infrastructure.
• IIT Director said that Bodhan AI would aid in making education equitable, of high quality, affordable, and easily accessible.

KAS Current Affairs GS2: Industrial Relations Code (Amendment) Bill, 2026

Lok Sabha passes Industrial Relations Code Bill to avoid confusion over 2020 Act

Context: The Lok Sabha passed a Bill to help avoid any “future unwarranted complication” over the continuity of certain laws replaced by the Industrial Relations Code of 2020.

• The Industrial Relations Code (Amendment) Bill, 2026, contains savings provisions to ensure continuity and legal certainty.
• The Bill would help avoid any “future unwarranted complication” over the continuity of certain laws replaced by the Industrial Relations Code of 2020.
• The Industrial Relations Code, 2020 replaces the Trade Unions Act, 1926, the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946 and the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, relating to trade unions, industrial employment and industrial disputes, according to statement of objects and reasons of the proposed law.
• It contains savings provisions under Section 104 to ensure continuity and legal certainty. “Though the repeal has occurred by operation of Section 104 of the Code itself, there is a possibility of future confusion being created on a misconceived ground that the Act delegates the power to repeal the said enactments to the executive,”.
• The provisions of Section 104 and a February 2026 notification are clear that the repeal has occurred by the operation of Section 104 of the Code itself. “It is considered desirable to introduce the proposed amendment to avoid any future unwarranted complication,” it said.
• The four Labour Codes implemented nearly three months ago ensures guarantee of minimum wage. These Codes also ensure compulsory issuance of appointment letters as well as uniform wages for the same work irrespective of gender.

KAS Current Affairs: GS2: Substantive Motion

Dubey moves Substantive Motion against Rahul in Lower House

Context: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Nishikant Dubey said he had initiated a Substantive Motion against Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi for allegedly being “hand in glove” with “anti-national” forces.

• A Substantive Motion is an independent, self-contained proposal submitted for the approval of a Legislative House or Assembly, drafted to express a decision or opinion. The motion entails a debate followed by a compulsory vote if the notice is accepted and the motion is moved.
• Mr. Dubey’s remarks during Zero Hour that he has submitted a notice for the substantive motion led to a furore in the House, leading to adjournment for the day.
• The Substantive Motion comes a day after Mr. Gandhi tore into the India-U.S. interim trade deal, accusing the government of compromising national interests.
• Many parts of his speech were expunged from the records, and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said that the ruling side would move a Privilege Motion against the Congress leader.

Sources: TH

KAS Current Affairs: GS1: New Consumer Price Index

New CPI series marks retail inflation at 2.75%

Context: The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) released the Consumer Price Index (CPI) data based on a new series with 2024 as base year, placing retail inflation in January 2026 at 2.75%.

• The new series of the CPI, which updated the base year from 2012.
• The total number of items covered under the new series has increased to 358 from the 299 items in the older series.
• The number of goods covered under the new series has increased to 308 from 259, and the number of services has gone up to 50 from 40.
• The updated CPI series gives new weights to goods and services based on consumption patterns revealed in the Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES) 2023-24.
• The new series also collects data from more sources across the country. Data are collected from 1,465 rural markets, up from 1,181. The number of urban markets covered has gone up to 1,395 from 1,114. Notably, the new series also collects data from 12 online marketplaces, a new category that has been included now.
• The new series of the CPI provides more granular data by dividing the underlying goods and services into 12 broad groups compared to the six groups under the older series. As a result of this, and also based on the consumption patterns of the HCES 2023-24, the weights assigned to these goods and services have also been revised to better reflect current consumption.

New weights

• The weightage assigned to the food and beverages category has been revised downward in the new series to 36.75% from the earlier 45.86%.
• “The lower weightage on the relatively volatile food category may make the headline inflation number less volatile, all other things remaining equal,”.
• The housing category, with an earlier weight of 10.07%, has been expanded to also include water, electricity, gas and other fuels, and this combined category now has a weight of 17.67%.
• The additional groups in the new series include furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance (with a weight of 4.47%), health (6.1%), transport (8.8%), information and communication (3.61%), recreation, sports and culture (1.52%), education services (3.33%), restaurants and accommodation services (3.35%), and personal care, social protection and miscellaneous goods and services (5.04%).
• The paan, tobacco and intoxicants category saw its weight increase to 2.99% from 2.38% in the older series.
• The clothing and footwear category’s weight fell to 2.38% from 6.53%.

“Since the basket is aligned with recent expenditure data, the inflation signals from this will be more closely matched to the prevailing economic conditions,”.

Source: TH

Article 94 of the Constitution

Speaker directs Lok Sabha Secretariat to correct notice seeking his removal

Context: Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla asked the Lok Sabha Secretariat to correct shortcomings in the Opposition’s notice seeking his removal from his Constitutional office, and proceed with the corrected notice.

• The revised notice will be listed after the commencement of the second phase of the Budget Session. The second phase will be held between March 9 and April 2.
• “Shortcomings were found in the notice submitted by Opposition MPs to remove Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla,” a source in the Lok Sabha Secretariat said. “The notice referred four times to events of February 2025, on the basis of which it could have been rejected under the rules,” they added.
• Mr. Birla directed the Secretariat to have the defective notice corrected and then proceed with it. It will be taken up in the second part of the Budget Session. The first part of the session, which got under way on January 28, will go into recess on February 13.
• While the Opposition’s move is aimed at making a political point on the way the House has functioned, there is considerable interest in the process. Article 94 of the Constitution deals with the provisions regarding the removal of the Speaker.

On Article 94C

• The Opposition notice is under Article 94C, which states that the Speaker “may be removed from his office by a resolution of the House of the People by a majority of the then members of the House”.

• This is interpreted as the effective majority of the House, that is, more than half of the strength of the House minus the vacancies.
• “The Constitution doesn’t use the word effective majority but it’s meant to convey the effective strength of the House,” former Lok Sabha Secretary-General P.D.T. Achary told The Hindu.
• A minimum of 14 days’ notice has to be given before a resolution seeking the removal of the Speaker can be taken up by the House, and under Article 96, the Speaker can respond to the notice for removal.

Denotified tribes

No plans for distinct legal recognition for denotified tribes: Centre

Context: The Union government is not considering any proposal for distinct legal and constitutional recognition of a category on a par with the SC/ST/OBC classifications for the denotified, nomadic, and semi-nomadic tribes in India, the Tribal Affairs Ministry told the Rajya Sabha.

• This comes even as these communities (formerly classified as “criminal” under the colonial-era Criminal Tribes Act, 1871) are organising to push for a “separate column” in the upcoming 2027 Census forms for themselves, in the hopes of building it up into a movement for a fresh classification for communities that were once labelled “criminal”.
• In a meeting held on January 30, officials of the Social Justice Ministry assured leaders of the community that they will be counted in the Census.
• Replying to a question from MPs Manoj Kumar Jha (Rashtriya Janata Dal) and Sandosh Kumar P. (CPI) about the issue and the government’s plans for such a new classification, the Ministry said it had consulted with the Social Justice Ministry, which said, “There is no such proposal or plan under consideration.”

16th Finance Commission

• No reduction in States’ share in tax devolution, FM asserts in Lok Sabha

Context: Minister counters Opposition, says that resources that will be transferred to the States is estimated at ₹25.44 lakh crore; Constitution gives Centre authority to collect cesses and surcharges, she adds

• Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday dismissed allegations by Opposition members that the Centre was not transferring 41% of the divisible pool of taxes to the States, as mandated by the 15th Finance Commission, asserting that the required transfers were made every year.

• The 15th Finance Commission had recommended that for 2020 to 2026, the Centre should transfer 41% of its divisible pool of taxes to the States, which the Centre had accepted.

• “Often, we are accused of not transferring the 41% that the 15th Finance Commission has recommended,” Ms. Sitharaman said in the Lok Sabha, during her reply to the debate on the Union Budget.
• “I assure you, it is 41% that we have transferred to the States. We have not reduced any State’s devolvable tax,” she said.
• The Union Finance Minister said the total resources to be transferred to the States, including the devolution and under Centrally sponsored schemes, was estimated at ₹25.44 lakh crore for 2026-27.
• “This entails an increase of ₹2.7 lakh crore over 2025-26 and is ₹3.78 lakh crore more than the actuals of 2024-25,” she said.

• “The 16th Finance Commission analysed the States’ share transferred by the Centre to the States from 2018-19 to 2022-23 and concluded that in each of these years, the devolution made by the Centre exactly matches the recommendation of the 15th Finance Commission,” Ms. Sitharaman added.

Devolution pool

• She said that it was the Comptroller and Auditor-General (CAG) that audited the Centre’s finances and decided what the net proceeds of the Centre were, after subtracting from the gross tax receipts the cesses and surcharges collected by the Centre.
• “Out of that, have we transferred 41% of the divisible pool, that is what should be looked at, not the gross tax revenue,” the senior BJP leader said. “The Constitution gives the Centre the authority to collect cesses and surcharges.”
• The Finance Minister sought to counter charges levelled by Opposition members that the Centre was shrinking the divisible pool of taxes by focusing more on cesses and surcharges, which the States cannot gain from.
• “The cesses and surcharges are collected for a particular purpose such as health cess, education cess, road cess,” Ms. Sitharaman said. “These do not benefit the Centre, they go to the States in terms of building schools, hospitals, roads in the States.”

Medium-term Budget

• The Finance Minister explained why the Union Budget included several announcements that were aimed at the medium and long term.
• “This Budget has been prepared as the first Budget in the second quarter of the 21st century,” she said.
• “So, this Budget covers a lot of issues from 2026 to 2050. We are also starting the new five-year cycle of the new Finance Commission and therefore the estimates are largely on the recommendations of the 16th Finance Commission,” she said.
• “By doing these [longer term announcements], which are leading us towards the medium and long term, we are also continuing our push in building infrastructure,” she said.
• “It is not just roads and National highways, we are also looking at waterways so that the cost of logistics can come down and States that are in the hinterland will have the advantage of moving goods faster at a lesser cost,” she said.